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Tesco Kansas 2 Seater Swing Bench
by worst_trip
This not-particularly-timely review for the Kansas two seater swing bench comes at a time of year when ours is lying on its back, having been overturned by the recent October gales, and is covered with dead leaves, bird droppings and fruit stains as it's somewhat unfortunately placed directly under a big damson tree.
So even ... before the wind picked (it) up, admittedly it was a pretty flimsy piece of garden furniture to begin with. It's basically a metal-framed garden swing upholstered with a thin woven plastic / synthetic mesh (coloured mottled beige) on the seat base and back. The swing seat part connects to the main frame via two fixed metal poles that slot directly onto a big metal spring that hangs down from the overhead part. On top of this frame it has a black fabric sunshade / canopy (made out of the same synthetic material as they make cheap rucksacks out of) which can be tilted back and forth by means of a large side screw.
I paid around £45 for the swing bench from Tesco direct, who delivered it to my door for a fiver - it was marked down early in the summer from the original selling price of £80-odd. At the sale price it's OK but given its extreme flimsiness, it's nowhere near worth paying the full price for. My five year old sprog, for example, just by swinging back and forward on it for a bit, made the whole apparatus pick up from the ground so it's not highly stable by any means. It is marked 'not a garden toy' or some such - so it's not intended as a play-on swing, but I thought this unstability was pretty poor, really.
The swing was supplied flat-packed in a surprisingly small box, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was fairly straightforward to put together (although this did require two people because of the size of the finished structure). It's quite compact when set up - it's not even six feet tall at the highest point - but the seat part is easily big enough for two people to sit on. As the frame part isn't padded, it's not massively comfortable to sit on but it's OK for short spells and quite pleasant overall.
I think, had we had a better summer / had I put a garden furniture cover over the swing, it would've lasted better than it currently has done. The main problem I would say is the swing's stability however. Ours is in a fairly sheltered part of the garden, yet still overturns if it's windy at the drop of a hat. If you had it wedged into a corner on a flat (patio type) surface in a really sheltered part of your garden, it might not overturn quite so readily but as the thing weighs very little, and with its fabric canopy tends to catch any passing breezes like a sail, I still wouldn't be too confident about that.
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Folding Camping Table / Picnic Table
by tastydooyoo
This is a light weight folding table that is excellent for camping or any other trip / activity that requires table use. The mesh shelf contained underneath the table and the fabric side pockets are a superb additional touch, very useful when preparing food and storing items that may be blown off the table on windy days. The table folds ... down flat for storage and transportation. The generous size makes it suitable for family events or for an extra table around home or garden. Open the size of the table is as follows: 120 x 60 x 70cm. The table folds down to the following dimensions: 63 x 63 x 8cm.
The top of the table is a marble effect and looks quite striking when in use. The table is sturdy enough to sit at and either play games or use to cut food on, there is a small degree of movement but nothing that would deem the table unusable, you certainly would not worry about drinks being spilt. The table is very easy to put up / take down. Recommended.
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Tesco Picnic Table and Chairs
by azana
When we decided to give camping a go this Summer, in an effort to make the experience at the very least semi-comfortable, this was one of the items we bought. We soon discovered that identical tables featured heavily at every campsite we have been - perhaps Tesco should re-think the name of this set!
The table and chairs ... fold up into the table part of the item which has a handle, and at 7kg and 84.5cm by 64cm and 10cm deep it is easy enough to carry and fit into the boot of an average car. The legs are aluminium, which does mean that it isn't too heavy, the plastic top as you can see from the photo is a bright blue - it's not the most beautiful looking of items but it does provide seating for up to 4 people.
We found the table pretty easy to unfold and put up - the instructions weren't great but it's quite hard to go wrong really, the supports on the chair legs slot easily into place and there is a small pin to insert into the hinge part of the table to ensure it all stays in place. It's a pretty clever design that works really well and is more solid than it looks.
Once up, this isn't the most comfortable table that you will ever have sat on - at 84cm across the table is quite narrow, though the molded polypropene seats are large enough to accomodate most bottoms I would think! It doesn't actually say what the maximum weight is but we have found that 4 average weight adults can comfortable sit around the table for a drink or two and the seats seem safe for children too as the seats have a little dip in them - there's a hole so that any rain water can drain out if you leave it out at night. The whole thing is pretty sturdy, it wobbled a lot less than we thought it would, though we are pretty careful when using it, it certainly made meal times whilst camping a lot more pleasant than they would have been! The table itself is a bit dimpled and doesn't seem to have marked too badly so far, the finish and build quality of this item is surprisingly good.
For the current price of £18.82 I think this table is really good value, we've found it's handy to have for bbq's and Summer parties, and if you are going camping it's an absolute must have!
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